Tag: Filipino

Pineapple Coconut Braised Pork Ribs

Pineapple & Coconut Braised Pork Ribs

amcarmenLeave a comment

I am Justine Michael (JM) De Guzman. A 26-year old Information System Developer and a very passionate home cook from the humble town of Limay, from the province of Bataan. I worked at a Government agency as a System Developer, had a break due to burnout, and that’s when I started focusing on my kitchen (which will soon be a little less, because I’m about to get back on my career track).

How did I get into cooking and food? Well I don’t exactly know when, but all I can remember was ever since I was a little boy, I used to lurk around with my mom, aunties, and Lola in the kitchen. While other kids of my age play outside, I on the other hand was busy buzzing around my mom’s kitchen staff. I used to ask a lot of questions about how our food was done. I would always insist on chopping and slicing the ingredients for our lunch. And I would be the first to ‘tikim’ (taste) my Lola’s dish. Yeah, since childhood, I was into food and cooking. I’m always present when and wherever there’s food.

Though I never really had the opportunity to pursue my passion in cooking until I graduated college, my parents wouldn’t allow me to enroll into culinary or any related program because it’s ‘mahal’ (expensive). We were financially unstable during those times. My mom had cancer, and thank God she’s a very lucky and blessed survivor up to this moment. Going back to the story, it was actually my dentist who became my stepping stone on getting into the real world of cooking. Long story short, she has a sister, who happened to be a celebrity chef who resides in Manila, who is also a lecturer at a premier culinary institution in the country. She endorsed me to her for a scholarship grant given by the said school. So I got in, studied, and trained for months. Voilà!

After my culinary training, an opportunity came, not in the cooking industry though, so I still haven’t really experienced cooking for a living. That’s when I started my career in my field of profession (information system). I worked at the office, but my passion, or should I say obsession for cooking never faded. I’ve been known by my colleagues as the guy who cooks and the guy who has baon (packed food) 🙂 Food became my motivation for work. I always wonder what to cook for dinner when I get home, and for my baon for tomorrow’s lunch.

I began exploring different cuisines, by researching through the web, books (I started collecting books about food), food channels, etc. Aside from food and cooking, my other fascinations include history (Asian history), linguistics, society, and culture. I started to appreciate our food, Filipino food – Southeast Asian food, and those are great factors that shaped up my style and way in cooking. I developed my standards, philosophy, and list of ‘musts’ in my cooking. I rarely cook foods these days that are Western in my point of view. I’m so patriotic. Ingredients should always be fresh and sourced by me. LOL. Ingredients that can be made from scratch must never be substituted with industrially manufactured ones (I hate sinigang mix!). You’ll never see stuff like tomato sauce, sinigang mix, and stew mix, etc. in my pantry.

Pineapple & Coconut Braised Pork Ribs

If I remember it right, I started following Amcarmen’s Kitchen’s IG posts since last year. I really love her content and I frequently visited her blog as well. It was on the first day of May this year when I received a message from her asking about my interest in being part of her Auguest series.

The dish I’m sharing is of my own creation That said, this isn’t a traditional and commonly home cooked dish in most Filipino households. I’ll just call it Pineapple and Coconut Braised Pork Ribs. Before diving into the recipe, let me share some insights about this dish. As I’ve mentioned before, I have these so called “standards, philosophy, and musts” in my cooking. As much as I can, I don’t use industrially manufactured ingredients, so this dish uses fresh pineapple (but you guys can use the canned one, it’s just me. LOL.).

My philosophy in cooking:

You shouldn’t cook or eat food just to survive or satisfy your hunger. For me food must be respected, consumed, and celebrated every time, along with the stories it underlies with. That’s why it’s important for me to know the background and the story behind one dish. Like why this is cooked this way, why these ingredients are used, etc.

Fun fact, I have this odd habit, just before we eat at home, I first gather the attention of everyone. I weirdly and literally discuss the dish we have on the table, the name, and the ingredients, how I cooked it, what’s its origin (if it’s a traditional dish), my reasons and inspiration of coming up with the dish if I just made it out of creativity and imagination, the taste profile, etc. Just like you do it in a culinary school. Only after that will then they’re allowed to eat. LOL. It’s weird right?! But it’s true. No kidding aside.

Again, this is not a traditional Filipino food per se, but I still call it Filipino food. When we say Filipino cuisine, we’re basically dealing with food that’s been shaped by various factors. Culture, beliefs, traditions, religion, local and indigenous ingredients, influences locally, and internationally. Pinoy foods’ characteristics show strong Southeast Asian/Malay, Chinese, Spanish, and Indigenous influences. I always use them in reference whenever I’m developing a dish, just so that I could come up with a more meaningful one. Like, when I think of an ingredient(s) to be used for my dish, I always make sure, it has to be significant to one’s culture or tradition. I wouldn’t use jalapeño or habanero pepper for my Bicol express, simply because it’s not native nor a traditional Filipino ingredient. You get my point, right? LOL 🙂 I always make sure that each ingredient used is there for a reason; it’s not just there because I want it to be there.

So, Pineapple and Coconut Braised Pork Ribs. As the name implies it’s pork braised in a sauce base with pineapple and coconut cream. Why pork ribs? Well, we Filipinos love our pork. Right? Who doesn’t love pork ribs! Pineapple is my hero ingredient. This is a very common ingredient used in Filipino cooking, and I’ve seen lots of traditional dishes that use it as the base or just a “sahog” (topping). My mom would add juice from a pineapple in her caldereta and hamonado dishes, and fresh chunks in her curry. Then we have coconut. What represents Southeast Asian/Pinoy food more than coconut? I’m a huge fan of gata, and I often cook dishes with gata as its base. It is a shared ingredient among ASEANs. The aromatics I used were shallots, garlic, and ginger – the Filipino mirepoix 2.0 as I call it, as 1.0 being the forever trinity of tomatoes, shallots, and garlic. I added spices into it, which is not a very common practice among Filipino cooking, aside from our ultimate spice known as “black pepper” to give it the curry-like flavour profile – black peppercorn, chillies, coriander, star anise, bay leaves, and cinnamon. For the seasoning, I used a balance of both fish sauce and soy sauce. In addition, since this is a sweet-tangy-savoury dish, I added “panutsa” or unrefined block sugar (but seriously brown sugar’s fine).

Pineapple & Coconut Braised Pork Ribs Ingredients

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 45-60 MINS | SERVES 5-6

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 & 1/2 kg pork spare ribs, cut into individual ribs
  • 1 whole large fresh pineapple, divided
  • 200ml (approx. 3/4 cup) juice from half of the pineapple
  • 4 & 1/2 cups coconut cream
  • 6 red bird’s eye chili, finely minced
  • 6 shallots, finely minced
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick (or alternatively, 1 tbsp cinnamon powder)
  • 1/2 bulb garlic, finely minced
  • 6 tbsp panutsa or brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp ginger, finely minced
  • 1 & 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
  • Fish sauce, to season
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • Soy sauce, to season

METHOD

  1. In a large wok (kawa) over high heat, sear the ribs until browned and develops a crust on all sides. Set aside.
  2. Turn the heat down to low and add a portion of the coconut cream (about 1/4 cup) into the wok. Simmer until the coconut oil separates from its curd.
  3. In the now separated coconut oil, sauté the finely minced aromatics (shallots, garlic, and ginger) altogether. Sauté until aromatics are translucent.
  4. Turn the heat up to high. Return the seared pork ribs back to the wok and then pour in the pineapple juice, remaining coconut cream, all the spices, soy sauce, and fish sauce.
  5. Cover, bring to a medium boil, and then immediately turn the heat down to low.
  6. Meanwhile, in a medium heated pan, sear the cubed pineapples until browned and caramelized.
  7. For the last 15 minutes of simmering, add in the seared pineapple. Simmer the dish uncovered, just until the pineapple has absorbed the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Serve with steamed white rice. A little bowl of patis (fish sauce) with crushed chilies is a good accompaniment to this. Enjoy!

Pineapple & Coconut Braised Pork Ribs

You can technically call this dish “ginataan”, and you might also find resemblance with hamonado because of its “fruitful” ingredient – pineapple and a hint of “curry-ness” from the added dry spices.

I hope you’ll like this recipe.

Photo Courtesy & Recipe Copyright © 2019 | JM de Guzman

BON APPÉTIT

– JM de Guzman

myTaste.com

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Bibingkute (Mini Bibingka)

Bibingkute (Mini Bibingka)

amcarmen1 Comment

Hello Everyone! Only less than a week left to Christmas! How will you and your family be spending the festivities? Though my family and I are back in the Philippines, we’re used to just spending a quiet night at home and that’s probably how we’ll be spending our Christmas this year again. I honestly am not all about spending money that I don’t have on gift giving. Please don’t judge me, as I am definitely not a cold-hearted Grinch – I just don’t see why we have to go such great lengths to please other people. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ – and not about what I have just mentioned above.

Tangent/mini rant aside, this festive kakanin known as Bibingka, or in English, Filipino Coconut Rice Cake, is usually eaten for breakfast especially during the Christmas season, typically sold alongside Puto Bumbong. Just like other kakanins, this treat can be enjoyed all year round and not just during the festive season. They can be found on the streets, in the markets and even in cafés and restaurants.

Bibingka

Bibingka is a round rice cake that is traditionally cooked in banana-lined clay pots and baked over pre-heated live coals, but more commericalised bibingkas can also be baked in the oven. Now, I’m not entirely sure that ‘Bibingkute’ is the actual term used for mini bibingkas – I just came across it during my research for a recipe. I think the name came from this statement on Kawaling Pinoy:

“And to increase the cute factor, I used muffin pans to bake the cakes.”

Quite a creative name I might add.

Bibingka is traditionally made with galapong, which is milled glutinous rice as the main ingredient. Nowadays you can easily buy glutinous rice flour and use that instead of milling your own rice. The cakes are also full of carbohydrates which makes it a breakfast favourite enjoyed with a strong serving of coffee to get one going through their morning commute to school or work. Other ingredients in bibingka include coconut milk, margarine, cheese, salted egg, and sugar.

Bibingkute (Mini Bibingka)

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 15-25 MINS | SERVES 12 MINI CAKES

INGREDIENTS

For the bibingka batter

  • 2 cups rice flour
  • 1 & 1/2 cups coconut milk (fresh, canned, or frozen)
  • 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
  • 5 free range eggs, beaten
  • 2 tbsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 tsp salt

For the toppings

  • 2 salted duck eggs, cooked and sliced
  • Granulated white sugar
  • Grated and sliced cheese
  • Grated mature coconut (niyog)
  • Margarine, softened
  • Banana leaves

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4).
  2. Banana Leaves: Prepare the banana leaves by rinsing them under warm water. Trim away the thick edges and cut the leaves into about 5 or 6-inch diameter rounds, large enough to cover the bottom and sides of a single muffin cup.
  3. Quickly pass and heat the banana leaves over stove flames for a few seconds, just until the leave if soften and pliable to work with. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with the prepared banana leaves. Make sure the leaves are intact with no rips. Set aside.
  4. Bibingkute: Combine the rice flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until well dispersed.
  5. In another large mixing bowl, combine the coconut milk and melted butter. Stir until well blended before adding in the rice flour mixture. Stir gently until the batter is smooth. Add the beaten eggs and combine until well blended.
  6. Pour and divide the batter equally into the prepared muffin pan, filling only about 3/4 of the way. Top each with a slice of salted egg and a slice of cheese.
  7. Bake: Place in the oven for about 15 to 25 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cakes come out clean.
  8. Optional, if desired, place under the broiler for about 1 minute or until nicely charred.
  9. Remove from the oven and spread with margarine on top. Garnish with grated coconut or grated cheese and sprinkle with sugar to taste.
  10. Serve and enjoy hot for breakfast or merienda.

Bibingka

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Full Pinoy Breakfast

Full Pinoy Breakfast

amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! I can’t believe that we’re nearing the end of November! The month went by so quickly and before we know it, the year will be over too. I’m not going to say that tonight will be the last of my Filipino breakfast series because expect more for the month of December. The only twist is that I will be sharing Filipino Christmas Breakfast treats, so stay tuned for that! I will also be sharing with you a Noche Buena Special next month be sure to so look out for that too!

Tonight’s recipe is a dish that draws inspiration from a Full English Breakfast – but with a Filipino twist to it. I’m not sure if this has been done before (I’m sure it has), but nevertheless, I’ve swapped out traditional English Breakfast ingredients with its Filipino counterpart i.e. sausages for longganisa, toast for pandesal, and so on. I came across this idea while researching the top favourite Filipino Breakfast dishes and it clicked into mind: “what if I substitute the ingredients from a Full English Breakfast and make a Filipino version of it?”

The end result definitely put a smile on my face, and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

Full Pinoy Breakfast Ingredients

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 250g fresh corned beef
  • 250g oyster mushrooms*
  • 12 Vigan longganisa**
  • 8 freshly baked malunggay pandesal***
  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 4 slices of pineapple-marinated holiday ham****
  • 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 small potato, diced
  • 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
  • Knob of unsalted butter
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To garnish

  • Lettuce leaves
  • Tomatoes, sliced

*Or any other type such as button, cup, or Portobello, whichever is readily available and fresh at your local market or grocers. In my case, the oyster mushrooms were the freshest from the rest.

**Quantity depends on the size and type, more if you get the smaller ones.

***You can bake your own pandesal or you can pop over to your nearest pandesal stall (ours is just a 2 minute walk from our house) and buy at 3 pesos a piece of freshly baked malunggay pandesal.

Malunggay Pandesal

****Since Christmas is nearing, Hamon de Bola (Ham Ball or Holiday Ham) can now be found in every grocery store nationwide! Since this is our first time being back in the Philippines for good, we’ve been scouting around for the best tasting Holiday Ham by just buying slices of the various brands out there before buying the whole ball to serve for our upcoming Noche Buena Feast next month.

METHOD

Get ready for some one-pan action!

  1. Preheat oven to 90C (190F) just hot enough to keep each element of the dish warm as we work through each one of them individually. Place your store-bought pandesal into the oven.
  2. Fried Egg: Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat with about a tablespoon of oil. Crack the eggs gently into the pan to keep the yolks intact. Don’t overcrowd the pan, so if needed, fry the eggs in batches.
  3. Cook until the tops of the whites are set, but the yolk is still runny. Browned and crispy on the edges with a golden liquidy yolk is how I like my fried eggs! Transfer to a heat-proof plate and set aside in the oven.
  4. Garlic Sautéed Mushies: In the same pan, add half of the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant and golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add in the mushrooms and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
  5. Add a knob of unsalted butter, and season with a touch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Give it one good stir to combine and transfer to a small heat-proof bowl. Set aside in the oven.
  6. Corned Beef: Add about a tablespoon of oil to the pan and sauté the remaining minced garlic until fragrant and golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add in the onions and cook until soft for about 1 minute before adding in the corned beef.
  7. Continue to cook for 5 to 6 minutes, seasoning with a touch of fragrant and golden brown, about 30 seconds. Add in the diced potatoes and cook further until the potatoes are soft, about 2-3 minutes. Once done, set aside in a small heat-proof bowl and set aside in the oven.
  8. Longganisa: Wipe down the pan with a kitchen towel tissue and add about a quarter cup of water to the pan together with the longganisa. Bring the water to a boil. Roll the longganisa occasionally and continue to boil until the water in the pan evaporates.
  9. When the water has fully evaporated, let the longganisa fry in its own oil. Continue to fry the longganisa for about 5 minutes while constantly rolling them around to cook evenly on all sides. When the longganisa is slightly crisp on the outside, it’s done! Set aside on a heat-proof plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Set aside in the oven to keep warm.
  10. Holiday Ham: Again, wipe down the pan with a kitchen towel tissue and add about a tablespoon of oil. Add the ham slices to the pan and fry until golden brown both sides. Set aside on a single plate lined with a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
  11. Plate Up: Remove all the cooked elements from the oven and plate up accordingly into four individual serving plates. Garnish with fresh lettuce leaves and fresh sliced tomatoes. Serve with coffee or any hot beverage of your choice and here you have it! Enjoy a Full Filipino Breakfast for the upcoming weekend!

Full Pinoy Breakfast

Full Pinoy Breakfast

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Classic Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

Classic Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

amcarmen1 Comment

Hello Everyone! I hope everyone has had a fantabulous week so far and will have a great week ahead with the weekend to look forward to. Tonight I will be sharing a Filipino breakfast staple that is sure to spark some doubts, especially amongst those who aren’t very familiar with this foreign food pairing. Let me explain further.

Champorado, or in English, Chocolate Rice Pudding, is a classic dish found in many homes across the Philippines commonly served for breakfast. Chocolate for breakfast sounds like a heavenly dream doesn’t it? But wait, there’s a catch! Champorado is usually served with a piece of Tuyo, which in English is known as dried salted fish! Chocolate and dried salted fish?! That sounds like a bizarre combination!

Classic Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

Is it really though? While the sound of pairing chocolate together with fish seems like whoever came up with this combination was stoned, drunk, or suffered a milk mild concussion, let’s look at the flavour profiles instead. Okay before I continue, I would like to take a small shortcut – I had a major laugh fit when proof reading what I wrote above… What even is a milk concussion?!

Anyway, continuing on, there are a lot of impeccable desserts and sweet dishes out there that embrace the salty-sweet combination, and that’s exactly what you get from Champorado and Tuyo. It’s exactly like eating salted chocolate! The dried salted fish, which is shredded and mixed into the Champorado adds pops of salty surprises to each spoonful of the sweet chocolate rice porridge that you take.

Still not convinced? As the say, don’t judge a book by it’s cover if you haven’t tried it yet. Otherwise, you could get away with adding a pinch of rock salt into your Champorado – but it won’t be the same.

Classic Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge) Ingredients

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 25 MINS | SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS

  • 5 pieces tsokolate tablea*
  • 1 cup glutinous rice
  • 6 cups water
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar

Topping choices

  • Cacao nibs
  • Fried tuyo
  • Full cream milk
  • Sweetened condensed milk
  • Other dairy alternatives such as almond milk and/or coconut milk

*Tsokolate tablea, or literally translated to chocolate tablets is dried local cocoa beans roasted for a few hours before being ground to a rich, chocolate-y paste. Sugar, most often muscovado, is then added to the paste before it is shaped into balls or tablets, hence its name. Tsokolate tablea is traditionally used to make Champorado, but other alternatives such as unsweetened cocoa powder or a dark chocolate bar can be used in its place.

METHOD

  1. Pour the water into a large heavy bottom saucepot over medium-high heat and bring to a brisking boil. Add in the tablea chocolate and dissolve. Once dissolved, add in the rice and bring back to a boil.
  2. Once boiling, turn the heat down to reduce to a simmer and stir the rice every 3 minutes or so to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning. Leave uncovered to cook further for another 15 to 20 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is cooked through. The consistency should be thick but soft, just like porridge.
  3. Add in the brown sugar and stir to combine until dissolved. Remove from the heat and transfer into individual serving bowls. Top with dairy of choice and fried tuyo (optional for those feeling adventurous).
  4. Serve and enjoy!

Classic Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

Note: Even after cooking with the heat turned off, the glutinous rice will continue to expand and absorb the liquid, therefore it is important to serve it immediately to avoid dry Champorado.

You may also like to add a bit of chilli to your Champorado. It is not traditionally a spicy dish, but if you want that extra kick to the guts to get you going in the mornings, then go for it! Chocolate and chilli afterall is another classic flavour combination!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Taho (Silken Tofu with Syrup & Tapioca Pearls)

Taho (Silken Tofu with Syrup & Tapioca Pearls)

amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! So usually a new month on the blog means a new theme as well, but this time around I’ve decided to continue sharing Filipino breakfast favourites as there are so much more to cover than just the –silog dishes!

Tonight I will be sharing with you a popular breakfast protein in a cup known as Taho, pronounced tah-ho. It is basically warm bland silken tofu that is sweetened with a caramelised sugar syrup known as arnibal, and is topped with tiny sago (tapioca) pearls. The tofu base is as fine as custard that practically disintegrates into your mouth at every slurp. The arnibal imparts a warm, molasses-like aroma, and addition to the sweetness it brings to lift the tofu, it also gives it an earthy dimension. The sago? Ties the whole cup together by giving it some bite. It is a perfect breakfast to-go that warms your insides, is filling, and has enough sugar to get you through the morning.

Traditionally, taho vendors hawk their product using a yoke-and-bucket system that is hundreds of years old. Two aluminium buckets are suspended from each end of a bamboo pole – one containing the silken tofu, and the other carrying the arnibal, sago, and other necessities like plastic cups, spoons, and the day’s takings. Taho vendors balance their signature contraption on one shoulder and walk the streets in the mornings calling out “tahhoooooo” drawing out the second syllable for as long as their breath can handle.

As easy as it is to get taho from vendors, it is also just as easy to make it at home yourself with either store-bought silken tofu, or by making your own at home with instant or Homemade Soy Milk with a coagulant agent to help aid in the curdling of the soy milk to form taho – in this case, the recipe uses Epsom salt. Original recipe can be found over on Foxy Folksy.

Taho (Silken Tofu with Syrup & Tapioca Pearls)

PREP TIME 5 MINS | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the silken tofu

  • 2 cups unsweetened soy milk, instant or homemade
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 & 1/2 tsp (leveled) Epsom salt

For the arnibal

  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 cup small-sized tapioca pearls, uncooked

METHOD

If using store-bought silken tofu, skip ahead to step 6

  1. Taho: In a large cooking pot over the stove, place a heat-proof bowl that is big enough to hold at least 500ml of liquid in it.
  2. Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/8 cup of water in a small bowl. Add the Epsom salt to the mixture and then stir until dissolved.
  3. Pour the mixture into the prepared bowl in the cooking pot. Then slowly pour in the instant/homemade soy milk to the cornstarch and Epsom salt mixture. DO NOT STIR! Once both mixtures are combined, try not to agitate it otherwise it will not curdle smoothly.
  4. Pour boiling water into the pot just enough to be on the same level of the soy milk mixture in the bowl. Cover the pot with the lid wrapped with a clean cloth to absorb the steam and prevent the droplets formed from dripping into the taho mixture.
  5. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the taho cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until it is firm to the touch but still wiggly. While waiting for the taho to cook, you can prepare the arnibal and tapioca pearls.
  6. Arnibal: Combine equal parts of brown sugar and water in a small pot and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally and let it simmer until it thickens into a syrup, about 7 to 10 minutes.
  7. Tapioca Pearls: In a small pot, bring to a boil about a half litre of water before adding the tapioca pearls in. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on the size of your pearls.
  8. Place a colander or strainer in a bowl or pot and pour the pearls through to separate them from the water. Pour the same water used back into the cooking pot and bring the water to a boil again.
  9. Wash the strained tapioca pearls thoroughly with tap water and then place it back into the pot of boiling water again. Cook further until they become completely translucent ensuring that there are no white spots at the core.
  10. Serve: Using a wide spoon or ladle, make thin scoops of taho and transfer to a glass or mug. Top with the arnibal syrup and tapioca pearls. Enjoy while it’s warm!

Taho (Silken Tofu with Syrup & Tapioca Pearls)

You can find taho vendors almost in every corner – everywhere! There’s usually a vendor just outside the entrance to the weekend market where my Mom and I do our weekly groceries. I also remember coming across a taho vendor on the beach as well. In fact, we have our own taho vendor who comes on his bicycle every morning around 9am yodeling “tahhoooooo” on our street. Occasionally we’d call out to him for a cup (or two) of delicious taho, and since he comes right to our doorstep, we opt to use our own ceramic cups/mugs instead of the plastic cups he usually serves them in – we need to do what we can to reduce plastic waste!

In Baguio City, Strawberry Taho is a big hit where locally grown strawberries from the region are preserved as chunky jam and then added to the bland tofu instead of arnibal. Make you own chucky strawberry jam at home with my Homemade Strawberry Jam to bring the City of Baguio into your kitchen!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Tinapang Bangusilog with Ensaladang Lato

Tinapang Bangusilog with Ensaladang Lato

amcarmen2 Comments

Or in English, Smoked Milkfish, Rice, and Egg with Seaweed Salad.

Hello Everyone! Firstly, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Sorry I don’t have any spooky recipes to share this year – with so much that’s been going on for the past few months, we’re still slowly settling in.

Anyway, though this may be the last of my –silog series for the month of October on the blog there are still endless possibilities out there! For example, there’s adosilog, bacsilog, dangsilog, chiksilog, cornsilog, hotsilog, litsilog, sisilog, and the list goes on! The ones that I have shared with you are the most popular ones that can be found in almost any café, restaurant, or calenderias across the Philippines. They are also most definitely my favourite –silogs to whip up at home whenever I feel like fueling up with rice in the mornings, or whenever I’m in the mood for breakfast for dinner.

Tinapang Bangus or Smoked Milkfish

Tonight, I will be sharing with you a long time favourite – tinapang bagus, or in English, smoked milkfish. Milkfish is another popular staple in a Filipino household, one that we’ve grown up with despite growing up in Brunei where milkfish is also readily available all year round. What Brunei didn’t have though was smoked milkfish readily available in the markets or supermarkets. So whenever we’re back in the Philippines for the holidays, we’d make sure that we’d get our fair share of smoked milkfish in our bellies *cheeky grin* Now that we’re permanently back in the Philippines, you’ll always find tinapang bangus in our fridge!

I’ve added a little twist to the regular bangusilog of just garlic rice, fried egg, and bangus – I’ve also added a fresh element to cut through the dryness of the overall dish. If you’ve noticed from the previous –silogs I’ve shared with you, they’re pretty much dry and have no veggies to them at all which to be honest, makes me feel guilty for not consuming any greens!

Green Caviar, Sea Grapes, Seaweed, or Lato

Known as Green Caviar or Sea Grapes, it is set to lead the health food market with their bountiful benefits. Now this is probably a type of seaweed that isn’t commonly seen everywhere. In fact, they can only be found on the shores of Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and now Singapore. Here in the Philippines we call these Lato. I first came across these when I was dining at Blackbeard’s Seafood Island during one of my trips to the Philippines way back when. I was reluctant to try them only because they looked so foreign. I was convinced that they were just there on the dish for decoration until our friends that we were dining with told me that they were edible. They have a good fresh crunch to them and also pop in your mouth like caviar – minus the hint of saltiness that you get from actual caviar.

Here in the Philippines, Lato is commonly used to make Ensaladang Lato, which in English translates to Seaweed Salad. There are a few variations to this, but generally it consists of tomatoes, salted egg, fish sauce, and a squeeze of fresh calamansi juice. The simpler, the better.

Ensaladang Lato Ingredients

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 15 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tinapang bangus (boneless)*

For the ensaladang lato

  • 1/2 kg green caviar seaweed (or known as Lato in the Philippines)
  • 2 salted eggs, quartered
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • Fish sauce, to taste
  • Fresh calamansi juice, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To serve with

  • Garlicky fried rice or steamed rice
  • Fried sunny-side up egg or scrambled egg

*We usually only eat half of a bangus per serving but feel free to eat a whole fish for yourself!

METHOD

  1. Ensaladang Lato: In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, salted egg, and lato.
  2. Toss through the fish sauce, calamansi juice, and season with freshly ground black pepper. Adjust to your liking. Set aside for at least 10 minutes before serving.
  3. Tinapang Bangusilog: Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Fry both sides of the bangus over medium heat, until the colour turns medium brown.
  4. Serve hot with garlicky fried rice (or steamed rice), fried or scrambled egg, together with the ensaladang lato. Enjoy!

Tinapang Bangusilog with Ensaladang Lato

Tinapang Bangusilog with Ensaladang Lato

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Kapampangan Tosilog

Kapampangan Tosilog

amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! How was your day today? Or if you are just about to start your day, I hope you have a great ahead! I thought I’d start tonight’s post a little different, as I seem to either always apologising for something or delving right into the recipe. Anyway, I had a productive day(?) I’m not sure if going into the city and doing some window-shopping count as being productive *cheeky grin*

Tocino, just like Beef Tapa and Longganisa, are staples that are native to the Philippines. Tocino is basically sweet cured pork, with similar ways of preparation to that of ham and bacon, although beef and chicken can often be used as alternatives. It is sweet and savoury in taste and artificially reddish in colour to make it look more appetising. Of course, the addition of red food colouring is optional, as it does not affect the overall taste of the meat.

Though tocino is usually eaten for breakfast such as tosilog, it has been a famous Filipino ‘anytime’ food because it is readily available in almost every grocery store and can be consumed at any time of the day. We usually have tosilog for dinner – I mean who can say no to breakfast for dinner?

The process of making tocino varies from different regions of the Philippines – my favourite would definitely have to be the Kapampangan way in which boast “The Original Tocino” makers. The more popular kind of tocino, which we’ve already established is sweet, Kapampangans have a special kind called Pindang which has an added tanginess to it. In addition, to achieve that soft and tender meat, Kapampangans mix all the ingredients together by hand for a whopping 3 to 5 hours! It is then left covered overnight at room temperature to ferment before putting it in the fridge to cure.

The original recipe for making your own homemade pork tocino, Kapampangan style, can be found over on Foxy Folksy.

Kapampangan Tosilog

PREP TIME 10 MINS* | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 4-5

*If making your own homemade tocino, allow for up to 2 days preparation before proceeding to dish up a Tosilog dish for breakfast

INGREDIENTS

For the tocino marinade

  • 1kg pork butt, shoulder, ham or belly, cut into 1/4 inch thin slices
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 & 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  • Natural red food colour (optional)

To serve with

  • Garlicky fried rice or steamed rice
  • Fried sunny-side up egg
  • Spicy vinegar

METHOD

If using store-bought tocino, skip ahead to step 5

  1. In a large mixing bowl. Add all the ingredients for the tocino marinade except for the pork slices. Mix the ingredients together until will combined.
  2. Add the pork slices into the marinade and mix by hand for up to an hour, or more if you have the patience to do so. Don’t forget to use gloves to avoid stained hands!
  3. Once done with the mixing, transfer the pork to a container with a cover and let it sit overnight on the countertop.
  4. Mix pork around for a couple of times more before placing it in the fridge to cure for 24 hours or up to 3 days. It can be frozen afterwards and stored for longer (up to 3 months).
  5. Now that you’ve acquired the knack of making your own tocino (or no shame in just getting store-bought ones), it’s time to cook it!
  6. Add about 2 cups of water (or just enough to cover the meat) and 1/4 cup of cooking oil into a large frying pan together with the pork tocino slices. Boil over high heat. The process of boiling further tenderises the meat while cooking.
  7. When the water evaporates, the cooking oil will be left, instantly frying the meat. Turn the meat over after a few minutes of frying to cook evenly on all sides.
  8. Serve hot with garlicky fried rice or steamed rice and fried egg – browned and crispy on the edges with a golden liquidy yolk is how I like my fried eggs. In addition, it tastes best when dipped in spicy vinegar!

Kapampangan Tosilog

Kapampangan Tosilog

Just a word of advice before I leave it here for tonight – it is indefinitely hard to resist the taste of good cured meat but moderate consumption is recommendable. We want to avoid too much intake as it can still affect our health in the long run. Try to limit your servings of pork tocino to at least once or twice a month.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Tocino Spamsilog Fries

Tocino Spamsilog Fries

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Hello Everyone! Firstly, I do apologise on getting what was supposed to be last week’s post up super duper late (yesterday) – if you have read my last post just prior to this, then you’d know the reason why, but moving on…

Tocino and Spam, alongside Beef Tapa and Longganisa, are all staples that you can find in a Filipino household. Our fridge should at least have one of them in it, on standby, when there’s nothing else to whip out for lunch or dinner (yes we also eat them at any time of day, not just for breakfast). Right now I can tell you that we have Tocino in our fridge, and cans of Spam in our pantry – heck we even had fried regular Spam for dinner tonight!

But what happens when you can’t decide on whether you want Tocino or Spam to complete your –silog meal? Behold, SPAM TOCINO!

Spam Tocino

So I may be late on the discovery of Spam Tocino bandwagon (early last month), but needless to say that there are a few (thousands probably) products that don’t get imported into Brunei, especially if they’re non-halal. So yes, while we did have Spam in Brunei (only at certain supermarkets), we only got their regular flavours such as the original Spam, and lite Spam really. So seeing Spam Tocino on the shelves at our local supermarket while I had already set out to just get Bacon flavoured Spam, got me super excited to try it out!

PREP TIME 10 MINS | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 can (340g) Tocino flavoured Spam, sliced and then cut into thick matchsticks

To serve with

  • Garlicky fried rice
  • Fried sunny-side up egg
  • Sweet chilli sauce

METHOD

  1. Place the Spam in a frying pan, adding enough water to cover the slices.
  2. On medium heat, cook the Spam until the water has reduced to form a syrup which can be used as a glaze.
  3. Once the slices start to caramelise, lightly dress with olive oil and continue to cook, turning the heat up to high until seared and caramelised on both sides.
  4. Serve hot with garlicky fried rice and fried egg – browned and crispy on the edges with a golden liquidy yolk is how I like my fried eggs.

Tocino Spamsilog Fries

*Note: You can’t just plop these Spam slices and fry them in oil like how you would fry regular flavoured Spam. Because of the caramalisation that happens when cooking Spam Tocino, frying them directly in oil will result with a burnt outer layer, and undercooked Spam on the inside – this was totally the mistake I made because I did not read the back of the can where it says how to cook this special kind of Spam.

While doing my research, I came across a little interesting fact – whether the fact is true or false, I do not know, but it’s nonetheless intriguing. Basically, or more so apparently, Spam heard the Filipinos love Spam so much that they were inspired to create a variant of their product that will cater to the Filipino palate. From there, Tocino flavoured Spam was born. I also read on someone’s blog that these were limited edition – the post was made in 2014 and 4 years later it’s still selling on the shelves of my local supermarket. This can only mean one thing – it was probably a huge hit here in the Philippines and has thus continued to produce Spam Tocino as part of their collection of flavours!

Seeing the words syrup and glaze in this recipe gives you a clue that this is a sweeter version of Spam – which may not sit well with some people. Hardcore Spam-lovers may not be too enticed just because they prefer the salty, savoury version of it, which is what Spam is known for originally! The feeling is mutual for me, though Spam Tocino did excite and tickle my taste buds, I can’t overcome my love for the original flavour profile.

Tocino Spamsilog Fries

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Beef Tapsilog

Beef Tapsilog

amcarmenLeave a comment

Hello Everyone! First and foremost, I would like apologise for my absence last month. I had a theme all planned out, and even had the dishes ready to post – but life got in the way and disrupted my writing and posting schedule for two weeks. At the beginning of September, I was on a family trip to Singapore and Malaysia for my youngest sister’s graduation – it was a jam-packed week filled with much activities and therefore gifted me with a fever, cough, and flu from over fatigue after the trip.

Alyssa’s Graduation Ceremony – Diploma in Contemporary Music from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore
Alyssa’s Graduation Ceremony – Diploma in Contemporary Music from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

Day Trip to Legoland, Nusajaya, Malaysia
Day Trip to Legoland, Nusajaya, Malaysia

And because of that, I decide to take a small break for September and just start fresh with the theme I had planned out for the month of October! (Details in a bit).

Secondly, before I dive into the theme for this month, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my friends and fellow foodies who have contributed a recipe or two for my Auguest series on Amcarmen’s Kitchen. I hope that you guys enjoyed both the sweet and savoury breakfast fixes that they have shared with you! If you’d like to participate in next year’s Auguest series, drop me an email and let’s see what we can do!

Thirdly, I just want to put it out there that have some news to share with everyone so stick around until the end of this post (or you can skip ahead and scroll down to read it now).

Moving on, a new month means a new theme and for the month of October, where I will be sharing with you some of my favourite Filipino Breakfast staples! I’m kicking off the theme with few ways you can enjoy a traditional Filipino “silog” breakfast. Silog is a suffix in which the si is short for sinangag (garlic fried rice) while the log is short for itlog (fried egg). For example, Tapsilog is an abbreviation for Beef Tapa, Sinangag, and Itlog. The popular Filipino breakfast dish is a harmonious combination of sweet, sour, salty and umami flavours that sing in every mouthful you take.

Beef Tapsilog

Traditionally, tapa was a means of extending the shelf life of meats and other proteins such as chicken and fish. Beef Tapa is similar to that of Beef Jerky where it is prepared by curing the meat with sea salt and then left to dry directly under the sun for the purpose of preserving the meat.

Nowadays, Beef Tapa is simply marinated and cooked (either grilled, sautéed, or fried). The marinade mixture consists of, but is not limited to: soy sauce for saltiness, calamansi juice for a punch of tang, sugar for sweetness, and garlic for warmth. You can even buy Beef Tapa from grocery stores across the Philippines that have already been marinated for you, either fresh or frozen. Of course, the best way is to do it yourself so that you can adjust the levels of salt, sweet, and tang to your liking, and also know what actually goes into the marinade.

Beef Tapsilog

PREP TIME 15 MINS* | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | SERVES 4

*For ready marinated, store-bought Beef Tapa. If marinating yourself, allow for a minimum of 4-6 hours of marinade time, or 12 hours overnight in the fridge for the flavours to really soak into the meat (maximum 24 hours).

INGREDIENTS

For the Beef Tapa marinade

  • 500g beef sirloin (New York Strip or boneless rib eye), sliced thin against the grain**
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed calamansi juice
  • 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To serve with

  • Garlicky fried rice
  • Fried sunny-side up egg
  • Fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (optional)
  • Spicy vinegar

**When using beef, it is best to slice against the grain (grain referring to the muscle fibres), as this will result in easier to chew, more tender pieces of beef.

METHOD

  1. Add all the marinade ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and mix until the brown sugar has dissolved.
  2. Toss in the sliced beef and make sure that it is well coated in the marinade. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours (up to 24 hours).
  3. Strain the beef from the marinade and arrange on a grill pan (you may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your grill pan). Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook the beef until well browned on each side, about 2-4 minutes per side once they start to sizzle aggressively.
  4. Serve hot with garlicky fried rice, fresh tomatoes, a spicy vinegar dip, and fried egg – browned and crispy on the edges with a golden liquidy yolk is how I like my fried eggs.

This dish is all about balance. The contrasting flavours and textures all work together to keep your palate salivating for more. While Tapsilog is most popular for breakfast, it can also be enjoyed at any time of the day, even as an occasional midnight snack after a night of drinking!

Beef Tapsilog

Okay, now down to business – the news. If you have been a frequent follower of my blog for the past few months or so, I’ve vaguely mentioned multiple times of what has been going on in my life that I couldn’t exactly say back then. The time has finally come…

I quit my job back in Brunei.

Or more like, I had finished my two-year contract with them and I decided not to be tied down for another two years (which I had been looking forward to since the beginning of the year). The working environment just became toxic to my mental health. I also felt that I had lost myself – I didn’t know who I was anymore, as a designer. I was either designing for a client who knows nothing about design, or for my supervisor who thinks she’s better than the designer. She would push for her ideas to be realised, but when everyone criticises it, she puts the blame on the designer. When I push for what I want and then praised for a job well done, she would steal the spotlight. There were just so many things wrong with the system, and I decided to put my foot down and just leave altogether.

I grew tired of fighting and standing up for myself amongst vipers with childish and petty attitudes, and to be honest, my mental wellness is so much more important than dealing with these kind of people 6 full days a week for the past 3 years – and I am not going to allow myself to endure another 2 years if I had decided to renew my contract with them.

With that being said – no job in Brunei for me means no valid visa to work there. No valid visa means I can’t stay in Brunei anymore, and so after more or less 26 years, I finally left my home away from home, my birthplace, and have settled for just over two months now back to the motherland – the Philippines.

This is also why for the month of October on Amcarmen’s Kitchen, I have decided to share popular Filipino breakfast staples – something that I have been enjoying and indulging in for the past two months so I hope you enjoy my Filipino Breakfast series for the upcoming month!

To end, apologies for the super long post!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

myTaste.com

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

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Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

Hello Everyone! Maligayang Pasko! Joyeux Noël! ¡Feliz Navidad! Vrolijk Kerstfeest! And a very Merry Christmas to my family, friends and followers from all around the world! It’s weird knowing that Christmas  Day is coming to an end, and that the New Year is just around the corner! The year definitely went by real quick! Anyway, tonight will by my last post for the year (maybe) and it is also the very last post for my Festive Filipino Foods series for the blog. Day 12 of 12 is finally here and I have definitely saved the best for last!

If you weren’t able to guess from the hints I dropped in yesterday’s post, tonight’s dish is a Valencian rice dish with ancient roots that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near Albufera lagoon on the east coast of Spain adjacent to the city of Valencia. The dish is highly regarded as Spain’s National Dish with various types ranging from Vegetarian/Vegan Paella (Paella de Verduras), Seafood Paella (Paella de Marisco), Mixed Paella (Paella Mixta), and many, many more variants! From the name of this blog, you’ll already know what type of Paella I’ll be covering tonight, but now that I look back and think about my dish, it can actually be a Paella Mixta because what I will be sharing with you tonight is a free-style combination of land animals (well mainly processed pork in the form of a chorizo sausage), seafood, and vegetables.

According to tradition in Valencia, Paella is cooked over an open fire, fueled by orange and pine branches along with pine cones. This produces an aromatic smoke which infuses the Paella. It is cooked in a special wide-flat pan called a Paellera, and dinner guests traditionally eat directly out of the pan as well. Since paellera’s aren’t commonly found, or if you don’t have one handy, the recipe method below will show you how you can still make paella in a normal cooking pot. The last time I made Paella was back in 2012 if I’m not mistaken. I cooked it up together with my then housemate Vanessa and shared it with a friend of mine and her mother one cold wintery evening. We cooked it in a large frying pan and even served it up in that pan!

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella) Ingredients

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella) Ingredients

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 30-40 MINS | SERVES 8-10

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups plain medium-grain rice, washed and drained
  • 1 cup glutinous rice, washed and drained
  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 300g fresh or frozen mussels
  • 200g fresh prawns, peeled and deveined, peels and heads reserved
  • 150g fresh or frozen baby clam meat
  • 100g squid, cleaned and cut into rings
  • 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2-3 dried bay leaves
  • 1 brown onion, diced
  • 1 chorizo sausage, sliced diagonally
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges
  • 1 yellow capsicum, sliced
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • Ground salt and black pepper, to taste
  • Pinch of Saffron threads
  • Whole black peppercorns

METHOD

  1. Start by making the broth to flavour your paella by adding the prawn heads and peels to a medium-sized pot and cover with about a litre and a half of water. Season with a bit of salt, bay leaves, and whole black peppercorns. Bring to a boil over high heat and then turn it down to a slow simmer. Make sure to press down on the heads and peels as it simmers away to extract as much flavour as you can. Leave it to simmer for about 30 minutes. Once done, turn the heat off and set aside.
  2. Heat about 2-3 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-high, and panfry the chorizo slices until browned, about a minute per side. Remove and transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.
  3. In the same pot, sauté the garlic until fragrant and golden brown. Add in the onions and cook until soft, about 2-3 minutes altogether. Follow with the diced tomatoes and cook until soft, a further 3-4 minutes.
  4. Add in the rice, paprika, saffron threads, and season with and bit of ground salt and black pepper. Give it a good mix before adding about 3 cups of the prawn stock. Cover and leave it to cook without stirring – at this point, you may want to turn your heat down to medium to avoid the rice sticking to the bottom of the pan. Leave it alone for about 15 minutes or once the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.
  5. Turn the heat down to low, and add the seafood (if you are going to serve it up in the pot you cooked it in, then I suggest that you arrange your seafood in a presentable way, if not, then you can just chuck them in and arrange it later when you transfer your paella to a serving dish). Cover and leave it to cook/bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the seafood is cooked through. Add the vegetables and chorizo slices and cook for a further 5 minutes, after which you can turn the heat off and leave it in the pot for a further 5-10 minutes before serving.
  6. Serve immediately with a fresh squeeze of lemon, and enjoy amongst family and friends!

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

Paella de Marisco (Seafood Paella)

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

ps: I may or may not actually post up two more festive recipes, depending if I have time to write them up from tomorrow onwards before the New Year kicks in.

myTaste.com